JFF and senior Girlz stand-off is over
Published:Tuesday | March 19, 2024 | 12:13 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
When the next Reggae Girlz squad is called for the team’s friendly international fixture against last summer’s World Cup hosts Australia in April, it is possible that interim coach Xavier Gilbert will have the full complement of senior players to choose from.
The senior Reggae Girlz, who historically made it through to the World Cup round of 16 last year, and have made themselves unavailable since their Concacaf Olympic Qualifying playoff last September, have, according to general secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Dennis Chung, been accepting invitations for the game.
Chung told The Gleaner they received word from the Girlz’s representative yesterday acknowledging that all the players have been paid in full, and that a few have already made themselves available for the game.
“We play Australia in April and this (Monday) morning we received an email from the senior Reggae Girlz representative saying they have received all the payment.
“We have lifted the suspension on the selection of the (senior) Girlz and we will call back some for the Australia match and some have accepted already,” he said.
“I don’t know (if will have a full complement of senior Reggae Girlz for the match) but we still have some young Girlz, the emerging talent, and we want to work on them for the next tournament is 2026.”
Rebuilding the squad
He said the age of the team (which went to the World Cup last year) will be very high by the time the next tournament comes around, and he revealed that they want to start the process of rebuilding the squad from now.
“I would expect the coach to be thinking that way because the objective that we have now is to work towards 2026 and 2027, so we have to work on putting a team in place for that time.
“If the Girlz are getting experience and we are developing the team, whether we win or lose, the focus is on 2026, and I think that is what Xavier (Gilbert) is thinking of with regard to building a team,” Chung said.
Meanwhile, Chung has given interim coach Gilbert his vote of confidence to continue in the job. However, he declared that the final decision will be taken by the technical committee.
“That (Glibert’s tenure) will be a decision for the technical committee. But what I can say is that Gilbert is doing his best. When the country needed him, he stepped up. He filled the role and did fairly well in the Gold Cup (qualifiers). He had young players but he did fairly well with them, and now his focus is on the continued development of the team,” the JFF general secretary said.